1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to a washing machine, and more particularly, to a centrifugal washing machine in which a detergent solution is passed through a laundry for washing the laundry.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
A washing machine strips contaminants from between fibers in general by applying energy such as impact and the like to the laundry. Depending on the type of energy applied to the laundry, there are pulsator washing machines, drum washing machines, agitator washing machines, and the like. That is, washing is done either by giving impacts to the laundry by means of the pulsator or a washing rod, or by the impact given to the laundry when the laundry tumbled, in addition to an action of the detergent added thereto. However, conventional washing machines have problems in that the laundry can be damaged from the impact or tangled during the rotation. Accordingly, in order to solve the aforementioned problems, research on washing laundries without rubbing or giving impacts to the laundries is underway, with fruitful results in which washing machines employing a low frequency wave, washing machines employing centrifugal force and the like are developed to a stage of commercial production.
The washing machine employing centrifugal force carries out washing by passing a detergent solution through fibers of the laundry under the following principle.
In principle, the action of washing is a stripping of contaminants from the laundry in the course of the detergent passing through the laundry. It is known from an experiment that the washing can be done when a flow speed of the detergent solution passing through the fibers of the laundry relative to the laundry is more than 1 m/s. Thus, when the detergent solution is passed through a laundry higher than a certain speed, the washing can be done even if the laundry is neither rubbed nor squeezed, namely, the principle employed in the centrifugal washing machine. One example of the centrifugal washing machine is disclosed in Korean Patent Laid Open No. 94-9417. This prior art centrifugal washing machine has problems in that it has great power, water and detergent consumptions because it requires both a high flow rate of detergent solution for spraying the detergent solution through detergent solution spraying holes formed all over a spray device provided on a central portion of a washing tub and a large sized pump for exerting a great spraying power required for the washing. And, this prior art centrifugal washing machine has problems in that it has a complicated construction because a difference of rotational speeds required for the washing tub and the spray device requires an additional device which can convert a rotational speed of a motor into two rotational speeds that are different from each other and transmit the rotational speeds to the washing tub and the spray device, respectively.